Love scams have emerged as a notable form of gender-based violence within Indonesia’s digital sphere, drawing attention to harms that extend beyond financial loss to include psychological distress. This article seeks to trace how such scams arose as manifestations of online gender-based violence, to identify the manipulation strategies they employ, and to evaluate how well current laws protect victims within the existing regulatory framework. Employing a legal-normative approach together with qualitative content analysis, the study analyzes secondary materials such as legal regulations, court rulings, and actual case studies involving victims. Its aims are to chart the historical development of love scams, to map recurring manipulation patterns, and to assess the sufficiency of legal protections afforded to victims under present statutes. The findings show that love scams inflict not only monetary damage but also deep psychological harm driven by emotional manipulation within fabricated relationships. The violence is described as unfolding through a five-stage sequence: the construction of an attractive identity, the initiation of romantic engagement, requests for financial support, experiences of online sexual harassment, and eventually the disclosure of deceit. The investigation also reveals that the three principal Indonesian legal instruments—the TPKS Law, the ITE Law, and the Penal Code—do not explicitly categorize love scams as digital gender-based violence, creating legal gaps that can leave victims without robust or targeted protections. This gap undermines the effectiveness of the legal response to contemporary online harms and gender-based violence in cyberspace. To address these deficiencies, the study emphasizes harmonizing regulations with the principle of responsive law so that legal protections can adapt to rapid technological development and the complex dynamics of cyber-enabled gender-based violence. Aligning statutory provisions and regulatory practice in a way that reflects technological realities and the evolving nature of online manipulation is presented as essential for strengthening victim protection. The overarching argument is that a more adaptive regulatory framework can improve outcomes for victims of love scams by closing gaps and ensuring the law keeps pace with the sophistication and reach of digital deception.